The Muggle Manner
by freakinwinky
Summary: The Man seemed intent on being extremely difficult to shop for... A Christmas romp involving Remus, Tonks, Muggle Popcorn, Previously untested potions, and the trials and tribulations of begining a Romance. RT
1. Prolouge

**A/N: **Orrignally written for metamorphicmoon Christmas challange on Live Journal, but I thought it was about time I started using this account again so...I am presenting it to you. Enjoy.

P.S. Those of you still waiting for the update for my other story The Night Vigil, Chapter 11 is nearly complete and _will_ be up within the week. I'm really very _very _sorry to keep you waiting so long.

**The Muggle Manner: Prolouge**

It was, once again December, the week before Christmas and Diagon Alley had been decorated for the annual St. Mungo's Charity Christmas fair.

Lights from live fairies, charmed to blink cheery red and green were strung between shinning street lamps which illuminated what looked like thousands upon thousands of vendor's stands, Musicians and performance stages lining the cobble stoned streets.

She heard the shrieks of laughter emerging from a far corner where a large swing in the shape of a snow covered carriage was packed to the brim with awe struck Children. Tonks smiled, wishing that she could, once again, be as care free as they were.

It had been a tradition for as long as Tonks could remember. Every year she came to the fair with her mother Andromeda, and, as she became older, each year became more and more difficult to bear.

"Don't slouch your shoulder's Nymphadora, we are not a baboon."

"Yes Mum," Tonks answered with a weary eye roll.

"And don't you dare roll those eyes at me! I've put up well enough with those loud clothes and ridiculous hair colors of yours, but I will not be disrespected."

"All right mum! I'm sorry."

Andromeda's only answer was a simple, resigned nod of her head accompanied by a long suffering sigh.

Tonks' Mother had always been a bit…overbearing (if not a complete megalomaniac, Tonks often thought bitterly), and Christmas shopping always seemed to bring out the worst of these tendencies.

But this year, Tonks had no time to brood. _This_ year Tonks was on a mission. True, it was a strange and completely unnecessary mission. But it was hers none the less.

She needed a gift; and not just any gift. She needed a gift for Remus Lupin. She had been searching for weeks, but, despite her best efforts, the man seemed intent on being incredibly difficult to shop for.

And she told herself that the, (for lack of a better word), crush she had developed on him had nothing to do with it. Even if she didn't think the way he smiled at her was brilliant and liked the way his voice sounded when he said certain things (like her first name…though she would never admit it), that did not mean that she could not be perfectly reasonable about picking out a simple present.

Still, it _did_ add an extra layer of complications to the gift finding issue.

After all, the gift you gave some one you fancied said quite a bit about the relationship as a whole.

"…Why Millicent dear, how in the world are you?"

...this gift had to be personal, yet not too personal.

"Oh, I know darling terrible weather for this time of year isn't it?"

….She didn't want to drive him away after all. It had to be subtle, but not something that she would give to just anyone.

"...Allow me to introduce my daughter Nymphadora."

…It had to be special.

i "_Nymphadora?" /i _

"What? Sorry about that phased out for a second."

Tonks shook herself from her reverie to look at her mother who frowned at her briefly before putting on, what Tonks liked to call her "Charmed" smile, the one she only used when she truly wanted to impress someone, and turned to a very tall, rigid woman whose expression mirrored that of someone who had just tasted an incredibly sour lemon.

"Nymphadora dear, this is Millicent Stranghold. She's on the St. Mungo's charity board."

"Oh, Wot-"

Tonks began her normal greeting before turning to glance at her mother, who was giving her a meaningful glare.

"I mean, nice to meet you," She held out her hand to the woman who was looking her up and down. The sourness in her expression seemed to increase as she took Tonks' hand, all the while glaring disapprovingly at the bright red and green hair atop her head and the small, Weird Sister's t-shirt which left her mid-drift exposed.

"That's my Nymphadora," Andromeda told the woman with a light, tinkering, entirely fake laugh.

"Of course you know, i aurors /i always seem to be preoccupied with some thing don't they? Now what was it you told me i your /i son did…?"

Tonks let her mind wander, once again from the conversation and returned to her quest.

Of course, she could always buy him a book…no. Too obvious. She was certain he got hundreds of books from various friends and relations every Christmas; there was nothing quite i unique /i in that.

"…Oh, but I've always thought curse breaking was so dangerous! Though I suppose I'm one to talk, what with the need for aurors these days."

Though, she supposed it did depend on the type of book. She searched her memory of late night Grimmauld Place conversations in order to find something concrete. Some personal preference he had mentioned, a childhood memory he had recalled in her presence.

"…Well of course dear; we do need to be getting along with our shopping as well."

Her eyes roamed the vendor's carts for novelty items. It could not be so expensive as to make him feel inadequate, but not so cheap it could be easily tossed aside…

"Yes, goodbye. Hope to see you soon."

Tonks' thoughts were broken once again when her mother softly jabbed her stomach and nodded in the direction of Millicent Stragnold who looked quite in a hurry to move along.

"Oh, yes. Goodbye."

Millicent Stragnold gave, what Tonks assumed to be, a small smile and a brisk nod to them as she hurried across the street.

"I have never been so embarrassed in my life. Honestly Nymphadora, I thought I raised you better than that!"

"Better than what Mum?"

Tonks asked absently as they passed a vendor selling what looked like gold medallions. Jewelry was right out. Even if it was "Perfect for that special Wizard" as the sign claimed. Remus simply wasn't a male jewelry sort of man, and while undoubtedly expensive, it said nothing about their relationship (if she had any right to call it that).

"Loosing your head, allowing your mind to wander aimlessly, right in the middle of very important conversations…"

Tonks allowed her Mother's voice to wash over her as they passed a stand selling fake wands, false limbs and various other "Pranks for Magical Mischief Makers". Tonks immediately thought of the Marauder's and the stories Remus and Sirius had told her about their youth.

…Perhaps a few practical joke items? She didn't think so somehow. While one could not deny that it was i personal /i , it seemed casual. A Prank Potion for example, would make it difficult to set a truly romantic tone should the opportunity arise.

They walked on. Her mother continued to ramble.

"…And of course she would notice that awful hair you insist on wearing."

Dragon teeth and heart strings for potions, Doxicide and other formulas for house hold pests…

"…I shall be the laughing stock of the entire St. Mungo's board!"

Herbs to put that zest in your holiday cooking, Sneakoscopes, half priced Quidditch gear and miniature brooms…then she saw it!

"You may be an adult now, but you might just try acting like one!"

…A tiny wooden stand, nearly smashed between a children's puppet show and the gigantic Quidditch supply shop, stood virtually unnoticed. A small banner held up by two poles bore the heading: Novelty Muggle Treats.

"Hold that thought mum."

She said quickly before her Mother could make a sound of protest and made a dash through the crowds across the street and stopped dead in front of a display of glittering bags filled with chocolate flavored popcorn."Popped fresh in the Muggle Manner" the sign beneath the display exclaimed.

The memory of a not so distant late night Grimmauld Place discussion came to the fore front of her mind. It was the last night of August and she and Remus had been left to the cleaning up after Molly's party for Ron and Hermione.

Somehow the topic of family celebrations had come up.

"We used to spend Christmas with my Mother's family," Remus had told her as he vanished several bottles of butterbeer.

"We would sit by the fireplace while my Grandmother popped popcorn the Muggle way, over an open fire. I always insisted on melting chocolate to mix with mine. They had to create an entirely separate batch for my concoctions."

It was perfect; Personal, yet not overtly romantic; thoughtful, yet fairly inexpensive.

Tonks grabbed for the first bag on the display cart, and in her haste, immediately knocked over the five lying next to it.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" She said, picking up bags along the street where they had fallen, as the very surprised cart vendor moved from behind the stand in order to help her pick up the discarded items.

"Perfectly all right. Happens all the time," the haggard looking man answered as he grabbed two bags and stabled them carefully back onto the display shelf.

"Most action I've seen all day really. It's been a bit slow, what with the charity events and all. Not much interest in the novelty items it seems."

A vaguely sad aura shone through the man's cheery pretense. His salt and pepper hair was thinning and flew haphazardly into his face and the bags under his eyes, as well as the patches on his robes told her that business had not been good for Muggle sweets in general, St. Mungo's charity fair or no.

Once the bags had been put meticulously back into place he turned back to her.

"I don't suppose I could help you with anything in particular?" he asked hopefully.

"Actually, how much would a bag of the popcorn be?"

"You mean it? Oh, I mean er…the flavored bags are one galleon a piece" the man looked both taken aback and extremely excited. "However, the regular salted bags run for…"

"The flavored's fine," Tonks said quickly stealing a glance at her mother, who stood across the street fixing Tonks with a glare while tapping her foot.

"All right then," The little man hurried behind his counter, took out his wand, and tapped it on the wooden shelf where a money box immediately appeared.

"How many will you be purchasing?"

He starred at her with a sort of hopeful grin which Tonks found incredibly endearing. Perhaps she simply had a soft spot for patched robes?

"I'll take ten of the chocolate," She said grabbing as many from the display.

It was more than she had expected to pay for Remus' Christmas gift, however, the expression of pure rapture on the sales Wizard's face was well worth the price.

"Ten galleons it is then!"

As she doled out the gold, she could hear the tell tale click of her Mother's heals along the cobble stoned street behind her.

"Nymphadora, really we've no time to lollygag about at these silly novelty stands…"

"Jesus Mum! It's just a Christmas present."

She shelled out the last of the gold to the Vendor who gazed at the gold and indeed looked as though he might kiss her.

"Thank you for your business Miss. Have a very merry Christmas"

"Merry Christmas," Tonks answered him as she picked up two large bags filled with smaller bags of chocolate popcorn while her Mother hurried her away.

"…I can't imagine who you would buy something as ludicrous as Muggle popcorn for and so many…"

Tonks smiled as she allowed her Mother's voice to wash over her. No matter what anyone else thought, she knew Remus would be thrilled with her gift. It was something he loved and something only she knew about.

True, popcorn might not entice him to immediately envelop her in his arms, kiss her desperately and declare his never ending love for her; but it i was /i a start, if nothing else.

Yes, there was no doubt about it. This was going to be a i very /i happy Christmas.


	2. The Sickness

**The Muggle Manner**

This was quite possibly the most miserable Christmas Tonks had ever spent

_"Tipsy the red cheeked house elf_

_Had too many sips of gin_

_When there was a drinking contest_

_You can bet that he would win!" _

Mundungus Fletcher and Sirius Black had been drunkenly yelling the same song for near an hour. It had crossed the line from annoyingly charming to just plain annoying roughly fifteen minutes after the singing had started.

It was Christmas Eve at Grimmauld place and despite the cheery decorations and the Children's ever warming presence within the house, Tonks found her mood to be deteriorating rapidly.

_"All of the other house elfs_

_Thought it was a great disgrace_

_That their working coleuge_

_Could obtain such a glowing face"_

Now the kids had been ushered up to bed by Molly. (All except Fred and George who insisted on remaining at the party. Their Mother already weary from the day's events and in no mood to argue, reluctantly agreed).

Sirius, Mundungus and Kingsley were seated at the kitchen table drinking what appeared to be their tenth bottle of firewhiskey. Indeed, Kingsley did not look as though he would hold out much longer.

His head lay on the table, his eyes half closed. He joined the others in singing half heartedly, and at odd intervals.

_ " Then one darkend Christmas eve_

(Here for example, Kingsley muttered, "Christmas eve means t'night!")

_The master came to say_

_Tipsy with your cheeks so bright_

_Won't you light my feast tonight?"_

Mrs. Weasley walked easily about the room offering more mulled wine, apple cider, or eggnog to those present. Tonks had declined the offer of a refill twice already. She simply was not in the mood, and no amount of butter beer was going to bring her to rights.

"_Then how the House elves loved him_

_And they shouted out with glee _

("Yipeee!" Kingsley intergected loudly before allowing his head to flop back down to the table)

_Tipsy your head will be mounted_

_On the wall of history!"_

The problem was not Sirius and Mundungus' singing, or the fact that she was functioning on less than two hours of sleep in the past forty-eight. The true source of her problem lay with one: Remus Lupin.

She had hardly seen hide or tail of him all evening.

He said a quick hello to her when she first arrived before being whisked off by Molly to help her with the buffet plates. She had spotted him sometime latter apparently involved in a deep and serious discussion with Moody which she did not feel quite right about interrupting.

Since then, it seemed as though every time she caught a glimpse of him he was hurrying off to this room, or rushing to speak with that person. She had not exchanged more than two words with him the entire night and she was beginning to think that it was not mere coincidence.

Perhaps he was avoiding her. Maybe she had been more obvious about this i crush /i (Which she now believed to be bordering on obsession), than she ought. Perhaps she had scarred him off; maybe he was simply avoiding the inevitable conversation which always seemed to begin with: 'I'm truly flattered but…'.

She shuddered when she considered this possibility. Not only would she be thoroughly heart broken, but she stood a very great chance of making their entire relationship extremely awkward. She would never be able to look the man in the face again!

The wrapped popcorn bag clutched in her hand suddenly felt very heavy as did the knowledge that she had several more bags stored in her flat.

She had already laid her gifts for the others beneath the Christmas tree. Molly had promised to send the Children's presents to their rooms. They would open them in the morning.

Tonks would be at her parents in the morning. And she wanted to give Remus his gift personally. Judging by Remus' behavior tonight; this idea seemed completely idiotic. She had truly lost her mind.

All of ten galleons wasted on someone who was not even remotely interested in her.

Tonks felt as though something a bit stronger than butterbeer was in order.

She silently walked over to the kitchen and grabbed herself a bottle of firewhiskey. Sirius and Dung drunkenly raised their 11th bottles before bursting into another chorus of "Tipsy the Red Cheeked House-elf".

It was going to be a very long night.

"And why, pray tell, is the loveliest member of the Order of the Phoenix looking so gloomy on this fine Christmas eve?"

Tonks turned to look on either side of the table where both Weasely twins were closing in on her.

"Wotcher boys. I'm fine, just dead tired. Haven't gotten much sleep in the past couple of days."

"Sure," the twin who had not spoken earlier, (George she thought, though she could never be quite sure), said with a knowing smirk. "What's that oddly wrapped bag for then?"

"Oh that…" Shit. "It's a Christmas present," She answered with a shrug hopping to sound as nonchalant as possible.

"Really?" Fred, (She supposed), asked with a smirk to match his brother's. "Then why don't you just set it down under the Christmas tree with all the rest of them?"

Double shit.

"Well, because it's…er…"

"See? What did I tell you George?" Fred asked before she could come up with something resembling a logical explaination.

"Love sick, completely and utterly," George nodded solemnly

"Now, wait just one minute! If you think that-"

"Now, now Tonks there's really no use denying it."

"You've got all the usual symptoms. Sadly vacant expression-"

"Big gooey eyes-"

"Clutching to a likely very "personal" Christmas gift-"

"Turning bright red when that "special someone" enters the room."

"I do not…"

"And what's more," Fred asserted ignoring her feeble protest. "We've noticed these same symptoms occurring in another esteemed member of the Order of the Phoenix-"

"A certain former Professor of ours…"

Fred brought her attention to Remus who had just re-entered the room. He turned to look in their direction and smiled in that amazingly charming way he had, and suddenly Tonks felt all the aforementioned "symptoms" surfacing. Her face began to burn and her eyes grew larger than she thought was humanly possible as she attempted to smile back. Before long however, Remus was taken aside by Dedalus Diggle for another, no doubt, extremely important and serious conversation.

"So sweet it's sickening really," Fred piped in.

"Nice theory lads. There's only one problem," Tonks said attempting and failing to hide the disappointment in her voice as Remus was once again led from the parlor into the dining room and out of sight.

"Oh? And what is that?"

"I haven't seen him all night! How can he be as "love sick" as you claim he is if he's avoiding me like the plague?"

Fred and George, once again, smiled knowingly at each other. She supposed this was a twin thing.

"Oh, don't worry Tonks he's got it all right-"

"-maybe even worse than you do."

"All he needs is a little…nudge."

Here one of them winked at her. Apparently the word nudge was supposed to mean something; Tonks, however, had no idea what.

"What sort of nudge?"

"Exactly the question we've been waiting for! George, if you will…"

George reached into the pocket of his robe and pulled out a tiny bottle which fit easily into the palm of his hand.

"What's that?"

"Why this, dear future colleague is the answer to all your prayers…"

"You two have the sickness-"

"Luckily _we _just happen to have the cure…"


	3. The Cure

**Chapter Three: The Cure**

It was strange to think that any Christmas Eve could be spent in a more miserable manner.

Several hours had passed and in that time Remus Lupin had been dragged into conversations on every morose subject imaginable ranging from Giant wars and alliances to stolen Muggle cookery.

He certainly appreciated the severity of their current situation as much as anyone did and more than some, but it was Christmas Eve for God sake! He had anticipated something at least a bit more festive.

To add to this extremely glum situation was the fact that i he /i was the only one who seemed to be caught up in it. Everyone else, from his point of view, seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Early in the evening, much to the delight of everyone in the room, Fred and George had caught unsuspecting passersby and tried to force them under the mistletoe with unlikely candidates. (Though he had a sneaking suspicion that the victimization of their younger brother Ron and Hermione Granger was more than just lucky chance).

Even now, Sirius and Mundungus were busy singing a cheerfully annoying Christmas carol in between sips of firewhiskey (of which they had had far too much).

It seemed that only _he_ had been pulled aside by mad-eye Moody to discuss their standing with the Werewolves surrounding the Dover area, and to advise Dedalus Diggle on whether or not the contents of a certain Muggle cook book he had come across could possibly contain a secret death eater code, (Dedalus always was one for wild conspiracy theories).

No one seemed to realize that he would much rather have had a drink (or several) with Sirius and Mundungus, or laughed along with the rest of the room at Fred and George's antics.

In fact, if he was completely honest with himself, (and he rarely was), he would have to admit that he had imagined this evening going in quite a different direction. And if he continued in this vein of honesty, he would also have to concede that his "fantasy" Christmas Eve involved a woman whom, in reality, he had not received so much as a "Happy Christmas" from.

Not that he blamed her of course. It was obvious he had allowed his private affections for her to show through his public demeanor. Her careful avoidance of him was simply a tactful way of suggesting her disinterest. He would have expected nothing less.

She was lovely, young and successful; he was quite aware (sometimes painfully so), that he had nothing to offer her.

It was best this way, he knew that. That is why, when he heard the singing stop and the sound of various Order members flooing from the Kitchen or opening and closing the door, he continued to encase himself by the fire of his study.

He should, at the very least, have had the decency to bid goodnight to the other guests. Still, he was not the host of the evening. That honor went to Sirius, (who was, no doubt, simply raising his fifteenth firewhiskey bottle to Order members as they left. He could hear the familiar loud slur of "Have veeeeeery happychristmasnewyear" coming from the parlor, which Remus supposed would do as a farewell.)

Besides that, if Tonks felt so uncomfortable in his presence that she could not even wish him a standard seasons greeting, he certainly did not wish to add to the level of awkwardness.

Thus, he flopped into his chair by the fire in the den and waited for the steady stream of guests to leave, when it would be relatively safe to go upstairs to his bedroom.

The door silently closed in the parlor. That was probably the last of them. No doubt Tonks would be half way to her parent's home by now-

"Wotcher Remus."

As though not daring to believe his own ears, he spun quickly around in his chair to face the door way, where Tonks could indeed be found smiling at him and leaning against the door frame; what looked to be a large oval shaped package was clutched in her hand.

"Tonks! I thought you had gone home."

She gave a very odd high pitched giggle as she sauntered towards him.

"I couldn't very well leave without giving you your Christmas present, could I?"

His attention was again drawn to the strangely wrapped package; however, the gift was not the only thing out of place.

"That's very considerate of you. But I'm sure you could have left it under the tree with the rest of the gifts."

Her smile seemed too…light, feminine, almost…_seductive_. Remus swallowed hard at the thought. There was a glazed look in her eyes and she pouted openly as she walked closer and closer.

"But I wanted to watch you open it. I picked it out special, paid a pretty penny too."

Here she gave another oddly placed giggle as she reached his chair and placed the gift much too gently in his lap, allowing her fingers to trail lightly over his thigh as she did so.

Something was wrong. The way she was behaving was…she was giddy and overtly graceful and distinctly (for lack of a better adjective) un-_Tonksish. _

There was one obvious explanation for this peculiar behavior.

"Tonks, how much have you had to drink?"

"N'much at all!"

Remus highly doubted this as she let out another more forceful giggle.

"I do feel a tad bit woozy though."

That much was obvious. He saw her sway slightly as she leaned against his chair for support.

"Now, open your present Remus or I shall have to open it for you."

This demand more closely resembled the Tonks he had come to know. And he might have put the whole idea of possible inebriation out of his head had she not sat on the arm of his chair and leaned her body slightly against his.

This was something she would never dream of doing in her right mind.

So, it was with a very hesitant hand that he ripped open the wrapping to reveal a large bag of what appeared to be:

"Chocolate flavored popcorn?"

"Popped in the Muggle manner. Jus' like you used to eat it. Remember?"

He did remember. He was only surprised that i she /i had.

"How did you…?"

"Found it at one of those novelty stands at the St. Mungo's fair. Poor vendor wasn't selling many, so I bought quite a few."

He had told her of that tradition five months ago. It had been a small childhood memory. Pleasant yes, he could not help but smile as he held the bag in his hands. Though whether he smiled at the memory its self or the fact that she had taken the time to find such a personal gift, he could never be quite sure.

"d'you like it Remus?" She all but whispered. Suddenly she raked her hand through his hair and…he liked _that_ very much indeed.

"I…yes. Very much. Thank you."

She smiled at him in the manner that always managed to melt him from the inside out.

"Of course," she said continuing her low, seductive, if slightly slurred tone. "I've got more at my flat if you ever wanted to…drop by."

It took a moment to register the full meaning of her words, her breath on his neck (which was strangely devoid of the smell of alcohol), was doing very odd things to his mind.

"Thank you for the offer Tonks, but…"

"Don't call me that."

"Excuse me? I thought…"

"Say my first name instead."

"Nymphadora? I…"

"I love when you say my name!"

There was _certainly_ something amiss about that. Remus could not count the number of times Tonks had chastised him (sometimes forcefully), for using her first name when she had told him how much she despised it.

"It sounds so soft and pretty. 'Makes me feel beautiful."

She sighed and leaned in to nuzzle his shoulder.

"…Then again you always make me feel beautiful."

Something was wrong. It was not like Tonks to be quite so sentimental. She was beginning to sound like the heroine from one of those paper back romances sold for a galleon a piece at Flourish and Blott's; the kind that she condemned as being "over the top", "soppy", and "a complete waste of time and money".

He heard another giggle which turned into a surprised gasp as she toppled against him nearly landing in his lap.

"Feeling very dizzy now," she said as he took her arm in order to right her. When she was once again completely vertical, however, Remus found that his hand had been taken captive in her rather firm grip.

"Tonk-Nymphadora," he amended quickly.

"Yes Remus?"

She settled a little further against him and began trailing the hand that was not latched to his own lightly along his torso.

"Is there…er…anything at all-is that perfume?" He asked as a very strong and sickeningly sweet scent hit his nose. He was sure she had never worn perfume before.

"Fred and George gave it to me. One of their new products."

A red flag raised itself in Remus' mind's eye.

"What did Fred and George tell you about this i new product /i ?"

" It's called _Eu' de Romance_: perfume and potion in one. 'S supposed to bring out my more seductive qualities. But I'm not sure I did it quite right."

"Why is that?"

"Well, for one you're supposed to be snoging me senseless right now and you're not," Tonks said unnecessarily. She looked rather brazenly befuddled by this fact

"'N for second…I'm feeling very…"_ giggle_ "…drunk . And I haven't had more'n a sip all night. I think there might be something they're not telling me."

Remus would wager there were several things that the twins had failed to mention to her.

"And did the twins tell you what, exactly was in this perfume?"

Tonks paused for a moment wearing a perplexed expression.

"Starting to forget actually…I know they said it was part Felix Felicis, to create the right setting, a very concentrated and mild truth serum so I'm sincere, and part _Carnal Vitralis _to…" Here Tonks giggled again as her free hand wandered from his torso to squeeze his thigh. "increase _desire_"

Remus gulped and attempted to come to terms with the new information (as well as Tonks' wandering and ulitimately intoxicating hands). He was no potions expert, but he knew enough to know that _Felix Felicis_, as well as truth serums if not used in the proper amounts could lead to catastrophic repercussions.

Obviously he was now the sole witness to such _reprocussions_

"Remus?" Tonks lifted her hand to his cheek so that he was looking directly into her eyes. Though significantly glazed, he could not deny that the normal illumination was still present.

"D'you think it's time we went to bed? Only, I'm feeling a good bit drowsy and I'd like to get the whole seduction business over with soon."

Remus froze. Surely by using _we_ she could not have meant…

"Let's see, we could use the guest bedroom just down the corridor or, if you really want to, yours is just one flight up."

Here she yawned widely and rubbed at her eyes which was completely adorable, and made her look, in his opinion, more seductive than she had all night.

"'Course, it'd have to be quick, which is really too bad. Still…what'd you think?"

What did he think? He thought that, while he had been fantasizing about receiving such an offer from Tonks for months, he would never be able to forgive himself if he actually followed through. Particularly when he knew that her brain had been addled by one of the twins test potions gone horribly wrong.

"I think," he said as evenly as possible, "That you should get some rest."

"But Remus…"

She whined and attempted a pout which was immediately hampered by yet another yawn and the slow droop of her eyes.

"You're too tired to do anything more tonight."

She looked up at him bewildered for a moment before seemingly admitting defeat.

"Can I stay here at least?"

"I don't see why not."

"In your room?"

Remus swallowed rather hard at this request.

"Nymphadora I…"

"'S the least you can do since you won't let me have my way with you."

The blush already coloring Remus' cheeks grew deeper at this pronouncement, though he could, in a way see her logic. Though, it was also quite possible, that his libido had taken control of his senses.

"Nymphadora the guest room is just down the corridor. Wouldn't it…"

"Oh, come on Remus. Please?"

Here she gave a very pronounced pout and her light dancing (slightly glazed) eyes starred up at him mimicking the expression of a lost puppy. How could he refuse her when she looked at him like that?

"I suppose…only for one night. I'll help you up the stairs."

She released his hand in order to slide her arm across his shoulders. He placed a hand on her waist all but carrying her weight and telling his senses not to become too excited by the feel of her body pressed against his.

"Remus?"

"Yes?"

"I'll need someone to tuck me in."

She laid her head against his shoulder and, in surprise; he nearly dropped her half way up the stair well.

After what seemed like an exceptionally long climb, Remus opened the door to his Grimmauld Place bedroom. Carefully he crossed the thresh hold to his bed, moved the coverlet (Not an easy task. Particularly when Tonks' lips seemed to come in constant contact with his neck.) and placed Tonks on the mattress.

Her eyes had drooped considerably now and he could hear her mumble incoherently as he covered her with the sheet and blankets.

Snips of phrases such as "So sexy when you…" and "should do this more often…" made his face burn and he wondered vaguely how often a grown man could blush in one night.

He was going to give the twins a very stern talking to about this.

He tucked the sheet in and made to move from the bed when Tonks grabbed hold of his arm.

"Where you going?" She asked him in a voice which made him feel as though he was leaving the side of a helpless child about to be eaten by wild animals.

"Down stairs," he replied. "I'll sleep in the guest bedroom tonight."

"Why? This's your bed. Sleep with me."

This request, unlike (several previous to it) was made with such genuine innocence that Remus found it oddly difficult to refuse. He stood several moments attempting to form a reply.

"Well, if you won't sleep with me," She broke the silence impatiently, "the least I deserve is a good night kiss."

His eyes grew large and his stomach performed a strange summersalt he was certain he had not felt since his Hogwarts days.

"Tonks really, I-"

Even in the darkened room he could see her face fall.

"You don' want to…?"

Now, he could not let her think i that /i .

"No Tonks…it's not that, it's just…"

"Then whats' a matter?"

She rubbed her eyes with her hands again and starred back at him wearing a highly innocent forlorn gaze.

"Kiss wouldn't kill you would it?"

Judging by the way this night had gone it very well might. Still, her odd semblance of logic seemed to find its way into his once more. She really had been through a difficult night, all for the sake of his Christmas gift. And, after all, what was the harm in one kiss.

And so, with large portions of his mind protesting profusely, he walked back to the side of the bed, leaned over the mattress and kissed her.

He had intended it to be a simple light peck; only a very brief meeting of the lips. His libido however, seemed to have other plans. He seemed to have no control as his mouth opened to hers and she readily welcomed him.

It was as if he had fallen into one of his fantasies, as if they had been miraculously transported to another world where possibilities were endless for all the things he would not allow in their current reality.

Later, he would not remember who pulled away first, his mind seemed quite content to focus on her bright (albeit potion induced) smile as the kiss finally came to an end.

It was Tonks who spoke first, slurring her words worse than ever:

"Remus? Think I love you…n'fact…sure I love you." He felt his body go rigid for one moment before she yawned again.

"Too tired to think more t'night though…g'night."

In a moment she had turned over, and the tell tale snores of a pre-hangover slumber overtook her.

Still, there was something undeniably pleasant about watching her like this. She looked comfortable, safe…lovely. And while it may not have been the exotic, paper book romance, climax either of them had imagined, Remus could not deny that it was _something._

Perhaps his talk with the twins would not be quite so stern after all.


End file.
